DEFINING CONTEMPORARY JEWELRY AND ITS RELATION TO VISUAL ART

tidbit of the day – otto künzli

The following is taken from an interview with superstar Otto Künzli. (Marcus Teipel from klimt02, 2003)

MT: Where are the boundaries between Art and Goldsmith?

OK: I shall formulate this differently. I believe that jewellery is a form of educative art, like painting, sculpture etc. I don’t put these things next to each other or under each other anymore. Seen like this the question suddenly becomes: “Where are the boundaries between art and painting?”, and of course no one asks this question. It is of course obvious that the different media with all their relations differ, too. For me as well as for my students the question of feasibility, taboos and boundaries is always subject matter. I believe one must try to find these boundaries oneself, because they’re not where one is told that they are; one has to direct this oneself. Often these boundaries are diffuse and vague. If one believes to have surpassed these boundaries one is proud, looks back and realizes that there was no boundary, that it has moved itself in the meantime etc. One day one awakens and asks oneself suddenly, where the centre of this damned piece of jewellery is and the whole game starts anew.